Neocolonialism as a term was first used by Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of Ghana after the country gained independence from the colonial rule of Britain (Yew, L. 14 May 2002). He implied that neocolonialism is essentially another form of colonialism practiced by the colonial powers over their former colonies that gained formal independence from their direct rule. The objectives of neocolonialism are almost identical to those of colonialism wherein the powers had pursued direct rule and brazen economic exploitation of the colonies. Colonialism, which is essentially direct and coercive rule and exploitation of one country by another or of one people by another, is clearly manifested in neocolonialism where they rule by proxy while economic exploitation continues as before.
Nkrumah further emphasizes that “the methods of the neocolonialists are subtle and varied” as “they operate not only in the economic field, but also in the political, religious, ideological and cultural spheres” (Nkrumah, K. 1965). All the colonial powers had groomed an influential section of the subjugated native population of their colonies in a way that made them clones of their masters, so much so, that they resemble the latter in almost every way except in physical features. These groups of people is in most cases, the elites and the ruling classes in most former colonies and willingly represent the proxy efforts of their neocolonialist masters in exploiting their own nations.
Defining neocolonialism would be impossible without first understanding what colonialism is all about. Colonialism essentially means the subjugation and domination of one nation by another or of one people by another. Most experts agree that it is very difficult to distinguish colonialism from imperialism, which in turn, means coercive economic and political control of one nation by another (Kohn, M. 2012). In between colonialism and imperialism, certain malpractices like racial and cultural bias also gets embedded among other things.
What is neocolonialism?
In the second half of the 20th century, when nationalist independent movements across most of Africa and large parts of Asia, wiped out colonial rule, many people thought that a new era of development and prosperity would prevail over most of those areas. However, their optimism was short-lived as most of these newly independent nations failed to live up to the expectations their independence ignited. The elites, who became the new rulers, actually took their countries on the path of destruction by following in the footsteps of their colonial masters to brazenly loot their very own countries.
Such elites are found in almost all the former colonial countries and they generally act as the proxy of their former colonial masters, who discreetly control them from behind the scene. This is neocolonialism at work. The objectives are the same as they used to be during colonial rule – brazen, indiscriminate and wholesale loot of the resources of the subject nation and people. The only difference is that while colonialism was overt exploitation of the subject nation, neocolonialism is by and large, a covert operation. Across much of the third world, scores of countries are run by a privileged group of people that work very closely with multinational and transnational companies based in countries that used to be colonial powers.
Manifestations of neocolonialism
The scale and dimension of the involvement of the vested neocolonial interests in the internal affairs of the target country is vast and complex. They target decision-makers at all levels from policy-making legislators to justice-dispensing judges and from armed forces commanders to business leaders among others. Once the significant elements from the vital institutional framework of a nation are in the net, the entire country is compromised. This is a time-tested method that has consistently delivered results to the colonialists when they first targeted a country and it is delivering results with equal or more efficiency to the neocolonialists today.
Philanthropy and its contemporary equivalent, development volunteering, is another significant approach of the neocolonialists today. Large numbers of development volunteers representing INGOs or International Non-Governmental Organizations based in countries that are former colonial powers, have fanned out across the third world to carry out the agenda of the neocolonial entities that fund them. They penetrate the socio-cultural sphere of the target countries, primarily academia, media, community welfare, as well as relief and rehabilitation among others and before long, begin influencing local affairs significantly.
In a sense, it is a combined effort of the transnational and multinational corporations along with the INGOs, many of which are directly funded by these corporations. It is a complex web of interests covering lobby groups that influence government decisions in the countries where these corporations are based. For instance, the military industrial lobby in the United States is considered to be very powerful and is known to influence US foreign policy to a large extent. Similarly, huge multinational corporations dealing in other core products, also have lobby groups that influence government policy both at home and overseas.
There isn’t much to choose between colonialism as it prevailed before and neocolonialism as it has evolved today if the objectives are considered. Both aim to ruthlessly exploit a weaker third world country that is rich in natural resources. In the olden days, the colonial masters ruling these poor countries carried out the exploitation openly as they claimed to be rulers of these countries. Today, it is being discreetly done by the transnational and multinational corporations based in countries that were colonial powers, through proxy elites in their payroll, running these countries.
Instead of the brute power of the state machinery that the colonial dispensations used in the olden days, the neocolonialists today use the soft power of persuasion, bribery, underhand dealings, and every other method to lay their hands on the resources in the target country. The eventual objective is to control all the levers of power in the target country by controlling the very people that are running the country. Occasionally, if any opposition to the corrupt ruling elite develops, the neocolonialist masters prod their henchmen to crush such opposition. In case, things go out of hand, they try to buy the opposition leaders. Many of the civil wars in third world countries could be attributed to the involvement of multinational corporations in the internal affairs of these countries. Whichever way we look at it, colonialism or neocolonialism, it is increasingly being related to what has come to be known as crony capitalism where a group of privileged people rob the resources of an entire nation.
Defining neocolonialism would be impossible without first understanding what colonialism is all about. Colonialism essentially means the subjugation and domination of one nation by another or of one people by another. Most experts agree that it is very difficult to distinguish colonialism from imperialism, which in turn, means coercive economic and political control of one nation by another (Kohn, M. 2012). In between colonialism and imperialism, certain malpractices like racial and cultural bias also gets embedded among other things.
What is neocolonialism?
In the second half of the 20th century, when nationalist independent movements across most of Africa and large parts of Asia, wiped out colonial rule, many people thought that a new era of development and prosperity would prevail over most of those areas. However, their optimism was short-lived as most of these newly independent nations failed to live up to the expectations their independence ignited. The elites, who became the new rulers, actually took their countries on the path of destruction by following in the footsteps of their colonial masters to brazenly loot their very own countries.
Such elites are found in almost all the former colonial countries and they generally act as the proxy of their former colonial masters, who discreetly control them from behind the scene. This is neocolonialism at work. The objectives are the same as they used to be during colonial rule – brazen, indiscriminate and wholesale loot of the resources of the subject nation and people. The only difference is that while colonialism was overt exploitation of the subject nation, neocolonialism is by and large, a covert operation. Across much of the third world, scores of countries are run by a privileged group of people that work very closely with multinational and transnational companies based in countries that used to be colonial powers.
The scale and dimension of the involvement of the vested neocolonial interests in the internal affairs of the target country is vast and complex. They target decision-makers at all levels from policy-making legislators to justice-dispensing judges and from armed forces commanders to business leaders among others. Once the significant elements from the vital institutional framework of a nation are in the net, the entire country is compromised. This is a time-tested method that has consistently delivered results to the colonialists when they first targeted a country and it is delivering results with equal or more efficiency to the neocolonialists today.
Philanthropy and its contemporary equivalent, development volunteering, is another significant approach of the neocolonialists today. Large numbers of development volunteers representing INGOs or International Non-Governmental Organizations based in countries that are former colonial powers, have fanned out across the third world to carry out the agenda of the neocolonial entities that fund them. They penetrate the socio-cultural sphere of the target countries, primarily academia, media, community welfare, as well as relief and rehabilitation among others and before long, begin influencing local affairs significantly.
In a sense, it is a combined effort of the transnational and multinational corporations along with the INGOs, many of which are directly funded by these corporations. It is a complex web of interests covering lobby groups that influence government decisions in the countries where these corporations are based. For instance, the military industrial lobby in the United States is considered to be very powerful and is known to influence US foreign policy to a large extent. Similarly, huge multinational corporations dealing in other core products, also have lobby groups that influence government policy both at home and overseas.
There isn’t much to choose between colonialism as it prevailed before and neocolonialism as it has evolved today if the objectives are considered. Both aim to ruthlessly exploit a weaker third world country that is rich in natural resources. In the olden days, the colonial masters ruling these poor countries carried out the exploitation openly as they claimed to be rulers of these countries. Today, it is being discreetly done by the transnational and multinational corporations based in countries that were colonial powers, through proxy elites in their payroll, running these countries.
Instead of the brute power of the state machinery that the colonial dispensations used in the olden days, the neocolonialists today use the soft power of persuasion, bribery, underhand dealings, and every other method to lay their hands on the resources in the target country. The eventual objective is to control all the levers of power in the target country by controlling the very people that are running the country. Occasionally, if any opposition to the corrupt ruling elite develops, the neocolonialist masters prod their henchmen to crush such opposition. In case, things go out of hand, they try to buy the opposition leaders. Many of the civil wars in third world countries could be attributed to the involvement of multinational corporations in the internal affairs of these countries. Whichever way we look at it, colonialism or neocolonialism, it is increasingly being related to what has come to be known as crony capitalism where a group of privileged people rob the resources of an entire nation.
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